Take the Pantry Challenge - Rules and Recipes (2024)

By Marjory Pilley Published · Updated

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Take the Pantry Challenge and use up the food in your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. It will help you organize your kitchen AND save money too.

When should you do it?

  • After holidays to use up the special ingredients you bought.
  • At the beginning of the year to save a little cash.
  • Seasonally to keep everything in order.
  • When you can't find anything in your pantry or freezer or you're throwing out expired food.
  • To make room in your pantry/refrigerator/freezer for a healthy dinner plan.

You can even make this part of your monthly shopping routine!

Take the Pantry Challenge - Rules and Recipes (1)

Pantry Challenge Rules

You set the rules for YOUR challenge to eat the pantry clean. Here's what to cover:

#1 Set a time frame for the challenge.

If you've never done it before then try it for 7-10 days. Once you're a veteran, try it for even longer!

My time frame: 7 days

#2 Decide if you will step foot in a grocery store.

If you are, what's your budget? There are many reasons to allow this. You may need certain products for special diets or for children. Or, you may want a little wiggle room for fresh items, like milk or fresh produce.

My goal: $20

#3 Clean out your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry.

Work in sections (i.e. start with spices, dry goods, refrigerator and then the freezer.) Lift out everything. Discard anything that has expired. Donate or give away items that you definitely don't plan to use.

#4 Make an inventory of what's left.

Simply make a list of everything you have on hand. Highlight or place an asterisk next to items that you need to use asap.

Tip: Use a marker to write the expiration date or opened date so it's easy to see.

#5 Create a meal plan.

This is the fun part and you should definitely get the family involved. Print out our free meal planner and follow the easy process to set-up a weekly meal plan using the food you have on hand.

Get creative. When things start running low, think about dishes you enjoy and whether you can substitute something you have to come up with a new favorite. For example, make chicken fajitas instead of beef. What's Cooking America's Baking and Cooking Ingredient Substitution Chart is also a great resource.

Recipes Ideas

Just because you're eating your pantry clean doesn't mean meals should be boring. Here are some recipe ideas that are easily customized based upon what you have on hand:

Breakfast

  • Eggs - Make it a scramble and stir in vegetables or beans.
  • Quiche - Use the basic quiche template and variation suggestions in Crustless Quiche to Make-Ahead and Freeze.
  • Smoothies - Substitute different berries in our Simple Strawberry Smoothie recipe.
  • Muffins - If you stocked up on baking supplies, make muffins! Do you have cans of pumpkin puree? Make one of these Pumpkin Muffin Recipes.
  • Oatmeal - Load it up with toppings such as nuts and frozen or fresh fruit. Follow our directions to make steel-cut oatmeal in a crock-pot.

Of course, use up any ready-to-serve items, such as frozen waffles or boxed cereal.

Lunch and Dinner

  • Rice Bowls - Make rice, quinoa, farro...or any grain base for a bowl. Add in protein, vegetables, cheese, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, crunchy toppings and drizzle with a little sauce. What sauce? Use salad dressing or use olive oil and vinegar.
  • Soups - Many of these Soup Recipes are customizable by swapping out the protein.
  • Salads - Use those greens up early in the challenge so they don't go bad.
  • Pasta - You can add just about anything to Pasta with Olive Oil and Garlic.
  • Breakfast for dinner!

If you have:

  • Ground beef - make crumbles for Gourmet Sloppy Joes or make Turkey Meatloaf Muffins (you'll need ground beef, chicken or turkey, cheese and breadcrumbs or oatmeal, onion and salsa.)
  • Chicken breast- my favorite sheet pan recipe is Mediterranean Chicken Bake. You can easily swap out the ingredients in this recipe.
  • Beans - go meatless! Use them in place of meat in the ideas above.

Use up any frozen dinners and vegetables!

Snacks

Here are some healthy snack options

  • Fruit
  • Cheese and vegetables or crackers
  • Energy Balls - Use any nut butter in this recipe. Swap Medjool dates for an equal amount of honey.
  • Trail mix - Use nuts, cereal, dried fruit to make these.
  • Healthy Veggie Muffins - these recipes call for only a few ingredients

Good luck and have fun!

Did you take the pantry challenge? Do you have questions or tips to share? Leave a comment below!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

    Leave a Comment

  1. Nonarae

    I’m not trying to judge.. honestly confused though.. only 7 days? Is that not like a normal amount of time to go without grocery shopping? I feel like i can easily go a few weeks between trips if I need to. I’m prepping for my first real pantry challenge now, and I think I’m going to do a full 8 weeks with a $25 per month grocery budget for dairy and some fresh fruit/veggies. The biggest challenge will be keeping my husband out of the store snack isle 😅😅😅

    Reply

    • Marjory Pilley

      OMG I know the pressure from family members. A longer period is even better!!!

      Reply

  2. Shanna

    I've been doing this for about 10 years. Usually January or January and February. With high bills on the winter time, this saves so much money. I also have to go to the food bank due to high bills. But I only go when I need to. So we come up with some really interesting meals. A lot of homemade pastries and bread during this time also. We also have an Amish cookbook that get very utilized. It can be done! I also barter with neighbors of I have excess items and I'm looking for something else. Like right now I have 1/2 a beef sitting in my freezer, but very little chicken, so I can use my beef to barter.

    Reply

    • Marjory Pilley

      Thanks for your inspiring comment and tip about the Amish cookbook! Definitely going to check that out!

      Reply

  3. captbridgers

    great idea but I have 5 freezers, 3 fridges. One freezer has a list of items...not up to date. Been trying to use up freezers but barely a dent. If we had one freezer & one fridge, this idea would be a piece of cake!..no pun intended...but an impossibility for hoarders

    Reply

    • Marjory Pilley

      Wow! That is a challenge! Maybe set a small budget for each week to cover true necessities and then slowly tackle sections over the course of several weeks?

      Reply

Take the Pantry Challenge - Rules and Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Take the Pantry Challenge - Rules and Recipes? ›

Each time your family uses up one of your pantry items, cross them off your master inventory list. Continue this challenge until you use up everything in your pantry or there is nothing else that you can make unless you buy more food.

How to prepare for a pantry challenge? ›

The Benefits of a Pantry Challenge:
  1. Less food waste. ...
  2. Saving money. ...
  3. Try new recipes. ...
  4. There are so many more benefits to doing a pantry challenge. ...
  5. 1) Set a goal for your pantry challenge. ...
  6. 2) Take a FULL inventory of your food. ...
  7. 3) List every possible meal from your inventory. ...
  8. 4) Meal Plan to use everything up.

How to eat down the pantry? ›

My Eat-From-The-Pantry “Rules”:
  1. No buying any frozen, canned, or dried fruits, veggies, beans, etc.
  2. No buying any meat except the deli ham/turkey as people like this for lunches.
  3. No buying any snack foods, cereals, chips, crackers, nuts, etc.
  4. No buying any beverages except milk.

What is the pantry challenge to save money? ›

Each time your family uses up one of your pantry items, cross them off your master inventory list. Continue this challenge until you use up everything in your pantry or there is nothing else that you can make unless you buy more food.

What is a must in your pantry? ›

Pasta, grains, canned goods, spices, and baking staples are the types of pantry essentials everyone should keep in their kitchen. These foods are the basis of many meals and have a longer shelf life than items you store in the refrigerator.

How not to throw away food? ›

A few small steps go a long way toward reducing food waste.
  • Check your inventory. Before you head to the grocery store, check what's in your fridge and pantry to see what you already have on hand. ...
  • Plan your meals. ...
  • Make a grocery list. ...
  • Buy small quantities. ...
  • Compost food scraps. ...
  • Teach your kids about food waste.

What can I eat from my pantry? ›

  • Rice, Pasta, Potatoes or Lentils.
  • Canned tomatoes.
  • Onions and other fresh veggies.
  • Eggs.
  • Cream, coconut milk or veggie cream.
  • Oil, Salt, Pepper, garlic.
Dec 12, 2021

What is eating the food in my pantry? ›

Where there's food, there might be critters (hey, pests like to eat, just as we do). The most-common pantry pests are moths, weevils and small beetles. Yes, they're annoying, but not really dangerous — they won't bite or sting, nor will they damage your home.

What is the secret to food challenges? ›

Eat a max-out meal 22 hours before the contest.

A “max-out” meal means that you should eat as much as you physically can in one sitting. Make this a low-calorie meal with high-fiber foods. Be sure to have this meal no less than 18 hours before the beginning of the contest.

What is the 100 envelope savings challenge? ›

It works like this: Gather 100 envelopes and number them from 1 to 100. Each day, fill up one envelope with the amount of cash corresponding to the number on the envelope. You can fill up the envelopes in order or pick them at random. After you've filled up all the envelopes, you'll have a total savings of $5,050.

How do I keep groceries under 100 a week? ›

How to Save on Weekly Groceries
  1. Shop your fridge, pantry, and freezer first. ...
  2. Keep versatile basics in the pantry. ...
  3. Maximize freezer space. ...
  4. Make a meal plan. ...
  5. Buy the ingredients you use the most in bulk, but ONLY if they're non-perishable or have a long shelf life. ...
  6. Repurpose your leftovers.
Jan 25, 2024

What to do for a food challenge? ›

A food challenge is a definitive procedure for testing whether someone can tolerate a specific food. During the challenge, your child will be given small, increasing amounts of the food in question and monitored very closely for a reaction.

How do people finish food challenges? ›

Stomach elasticity is usually considered the key to eating success, and competitors commonly train by drinking large amounts of water over a short time to stretch out the stomach. Others combine the consumption of water with large quantities of low calorie foods such as vegetables or salads.

What goes in a walk in pantry? ›

If your pantry space is large enough to walk in and have three walls of shelving, think about using deeper shelves on one side for small appliances, serving dishes, baking dishes and such. Then shelves on the other side not so deep to store food, like canned goods, cereal boxes, dry foods and such.

How do you stage a walk in pantry? ›

Staging a walk-in pantry requires careful planning and organization. Start by decluttering and removing any unnecessary items. Then, organize the remaining items by category, such as baking supplies, canned goods, and snacks. Use clear containers for loose items like pasta or rice so they're easily identifiable.

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